Lebanon
Lebanon is a country in the Middle East, located in the Levant, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Many cultures have lived in Lebanon through history and built their civilizations, such as the Phoenicians and Arabs. It is also part of what is called the Greater Syrian region, or Bilad Al-Sham ''(the land of Sham). It was an important part in Islamic history, being conquered by the Rashidun Caliph Umar I (r. 634-644) from Byzantine Rome. Today, Lebanon is mostly Muslim (54%) (Sunni 27% and Shi'ite 27%) and Christian (34%) (21% Maronite, 8% Greek Orthodox and 5% Catholic). The country has a President, who is always Maronite, and a Prime Minister, who is always Sunni. Lebanon is the only place in the Middle East that recognizes Christianity as a national religion. Lebanon became part of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon in WWII and administered from Damascus and officially part of the Vichy French colonial empire. After the war, Lebanon finally won independence from France in November 1943. Lebanon is, for the now, not a popular character, but may rise in popularity in the near future as the Middle East is getting more popular. Description Appearance Lebanon doesn't have a predetermined appearance for the now. Personality Loyal, considerate, brave, smart. ''WIP Interests Music, dancing, songs, books, stories. WIP Flag meaning The red bands symbolize blood shed for liberation, the white band denotes peace, the snow of the mountains, and purity; the green cedar tree is the symbol of Lebanon and represents eternity, steadiness, happiness, and prosperity. History Lebanon was the home to the ancient Phoenician civilization states. They were also populated by Canaanites, who spoke Arabic and Semetic languages. The Phoenicians were said to be the greatest sailers of the ancient world. The Canaanites spoke Arabic. The idea of alphabets came from Phoenician Lebanon. The most important Phoenician cities were Tyre, Sidon and Byblos. The Phoenicians set up trade routes with many other civilizations, notably with King Solomon's Israel. The Phoenicians set up civilization states on islands in the Mediterranean and in North Africa. The most well known is perhaps Carthage in present day Tunisia. The greatest Phoenician civilization of Carthage was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC/BCE. Lebanon was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedon-Greece and became part of his empire, and the succeeding Seleucid Empire, and later, the Roman Empire which was rising to its peak point. The Romans set up trading and market places in the region they called Syria-Palestine, which the country of Lebanon is situated in. This region become one of the richest places in the wide domain of Rome. When the weakening Roman Empire split into two parts, the Eastern and the Western wing, the Middle East was taken by the Eastern Empire, named Byzantium. The Byzantines continued what the Romans had done in the Middle East. Many people from all over Africa, Asia and Europe came to trade in the Levant. The Sassanian Persians occupied the Levant for a while during the war against Byzantium, in which they were winning. When Byzantium won the war, Syria-Palestine became part of their empire again. However, the Syrians (including Lebanese, Palestinians, and Jordanians) did not like the Byzantine Empire as they oppressed them and tried to replace the Syrians' Greek Orthodox Christianity with their Catholic version. When in 636 CE, 4 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, his political succeeding representative's successor, the Arab Muslim caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (r. 634-644) entered the Syrian region and defeated a Byzantine army there, the Syrians helped the Arab general Khalid ibn Walid (d. 642) as they were also mostly Arab in origin and felt a loyalty to the caliphate of Arabia, defeat the Byzantines in Syria. Soon, all of the Syrian region was under Muslim rule, and most of the population accepted Islam. In the Umayyad dynasty's period (661-750 CE), the dynasty after the first dynasty, the Rashidun caliphate of Abu Bakr (r. 632-634), Umar I (r. 634-644), Uthmaan (r. 644-656) and Ali (r. 656-661), moved the caliphal empire's capital to Damascus in Syria, and Lebanon thrived under Umayyad rule, but during the Abbasid revolt (749-750) the area suffered terrible violence, and after the Abbasid dynasty ruled the caliphate, the empire split into many parts, Lebanon was ruled mainly by the Fatimid Shi'ite dynasty (909-1171), the Ayyubid dynasty (1171-1260), and the non-Islamic Mongol Empire, which ended the Abbasid dynasty, which had no power, in 1258 CE. Later, the Ottoman Turks took the area. Mt. Lebanon was ruled by several autonomous amirates under the Ottoman Empire. WIP Category:Asia Category:Everything Category:Country Category:Islamic Countries Category:Christian Countries Category:Arabian countries Category:Catholic Countries Category:Characters Category:Republics Category:UN Members